Lay Vocation

Grounded in Lay Vocation

The Solidarity Family embodies a new kind of mission rooted in the specifics of lay vocation. Pope Francis speaks of laypeople being on the “front lines of the life of the Church.” He encourages the lay faithful to respond to their own unique vocation by “putting their creativity at the service of the challenges in today’s world.”

As distinguished from clerical and vowed religious vocations, lay vocation is deeply formed by its embeddedness in the joys and worries of everyday life, commerce, community, jobs, family, etc. Each organization in the Solidarity Family is lay owned and lay led, and each demonstrates a powerful expression of the laity in action, working to advance the reign of God.

To further Christ’s mission, the Solidarity Family invites people to share their God-given gifts and resources for the common good. Doctors, nurses, business people, pastoral leaders and many others have contributed to the creation of the movement of God that is the Solidarity Family. The Solidarity Family provides a sacred space where people from different professions, nations, and walks of life can encounter one another. In this space they are challenged to cross cultural and geographical boundaries to share their gifts in a spirit of mutuality and solidarity. These profound encounters have over time led to the development of ongoing programs in Bolivia and Paraguay which have had a tremendous impact.

As a direct result of its lay nature, the Solidarity Family has forged a network of connections within civil society. Dedicated staff and board members are familiar with social, political and business realities, and thus they have been particularly well situated to partner with medical professionals, companies, and institutions in the U.S., Bolivia, and Paraguay. Meaningful encounters between U.S. and South American medical professionals have grown into partnerships that have a great impact on the medical colleagues and on the people they serve. The work of the Solidarity Family provides opportunities for engagement that are integrated into the quotidian responsibilities of lay people, such as work and family. Many short-term U.S. missioners return year after year, forming long-term bonds and finding a renewed sense of vocation and a greater motivation to work in solidarity. The Solidarity Family includes short-term missioners who often become long term-missioners through multiple mission trip/campaign experiences. Some within the Solidarity Family, out of a vocational call to mission, make long-term commitments as paid staff, volunteer members of the boards of directors and the Solidarity Lay Association. Lay people collaborating in the work of the Solidarity Family in South America and in the U.S. discover a deepened sense of their calling within God’s purpose and a clear incentive for “putting their creativity at the service of the challenges in today’s world.”